Our Common Humanity
This morning the nominated Attorney General of the United States talked about the basis for the American justice system. He said that the law is meant to treat all men the same: rich and poor, rural and suburban, the powerful and powerless, Democrat and Republican, and all races and ethnicities. This is a long-held American value, but it is based upon something much deeper. It is based in our common humanity.
An Uncommon Humanity
Every people group has their own understanding of how mankind came to be. A person’s view of origins is directly related to their understanding of all humans.
The Ancients
In the ancient world, each clan or civilization saw themselves as originating from their god or as being special to their god. They thought of themselves as unique and as others as different and inferior. The racism in the ancient world resulted in slavery and conquests of other “inferior” nations.
The Modern
Evolution has given racists the scientific underpinning to support real differences among the various races. It is believed by some that different branches of humanity originated in different places by different proto-humans. The Nazis in Germany exploited these differences. “On July 14th, 1933, the Fuhrer decreed the Hereditary Health Law, a eugenics sterilization statute which was to be the first step in a mass eugenics program that would claim the lives of millions upon millions of people over the next 12 years.”[1] Using the differences in appearance or culture or race as a basis of profound difference is the root of all racism. This has been true in the United States. In early cartoons African Americans were often portrayed as monkeys, or the less evolved, or as a different branch of humanity.
The Biblical View
The Bible presents us with a unique view of the man’s origins. According to the Bible, the original man was created by God’s hands. From this man, God took his side (cut him in half) and used the half to create a woman (from man)—the person who was to make him again one flesh.
From these two came all people. At one point, God chose Noah and his three sons to continue the human line. From these came all the nations (Genesis 10-11). We cannot overestimate the significance of this beginning. All people groups originate from the same source—from people who came from a man and woman formed by the hands of God. The Bible goes beyond this, declaring that God chose Abraham so that through him all the peoples would be blessed.
God made all men and women from one source. This is the basis for all equal justice. It is the reality that removes all racism or racial supremacy.
Biblical Christians are not racists.
[1] Who Should Play God, by Ted Howard and Jeremy Rifkin, pg. 72
This morning the nominated Attorney General of the United States talked about the basis for the American justice system. He said that the law is meant to treat all men the same: rich and poor, rural and suburban, the powerful and powerless, Democrat and Republican, and all races and ethnicities. This is a long-held American value, but it is based upon something much deeper. It is based in our common humanity.
An Uncommon Humanity
Every people group has their own understanding of how mankind came to be. A person’s view of origins is directly related to their understanding of all humans.
The Ancients
In the ancient world, each clan or civilization saw themselves as originating from their god or as being special to their god. They thought of themselves as unique and as others as different and inferior. The racism in the ancient world resulted in slavery and conquests of other “inferior” nations.
The Modern
Evolution has given racists the scientific underpinning to support real differences among the various races. It is believed by some that different branches of humanity originated in different places by different proto-humans. The Nazis in Germany exploited these differences. “On July 14th, 1933, the Fuhrer decreed the Hereditary Health Law, a eugenics sterilization statute which was to be the first step in a mass eugenics program that would claim the lives of millions upon millions of people over the next 12 years.”[1] Using the differences in appearance or culture or race as a basis of profound difference is the root of all racism. This has been true in the United States. In early cartoons African Americans were often portrayed as monkeys, or the less evolved, or as a different branch of humanity.
The Biblical View
The Bible presents us with a unique view of the man’s origins. According to the Bible, the original man was created by God’s hands. From this man, God took his side (cut him in half) and used the half to create a woman (from man)—the person who was to make him again one flesh.
From these two came all people. At one point, God chose Noah and his three sons to continue the human line. From these came all the nations (Genesis 10-11). We cannot overestimate the significance of this beginning. All people groups originate from the same source—from people who came from a man and woman formed by the hands of God. The Bible goes beyond this, declaring that God chose Abraham so that through him all the peoples would be blessed.
God made all men and women from one source. This is the basis for all equal justice. It is the reality that removes all racism or racial supremacy.
Biblical Christians are not racists.
[1] Who Should Play God, by Ted Howard and Jeremy Rifkin, pg. 72